A <a href=http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2014/11/06-mapping-freight-tomer-kane'target='_blank'>report from the Brookings Institute</a> maps the goods trade within the U.S. Their interactive tool shows which products are moving in and out of the Houston area, including their worth. less

A <a href=http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2014/11/06-mapping-freight-tomer-kane'target='_blank'>report from the Brookings Institute</a> maps the goods trade within the U.S. Their interactive tool ... more

Around the Houston area there is a great sense of dollars and cents, be it an understanding of finance, the risk-versus-reward of energy exploration or the complexities of health care costs.

Despite its skill in cost accounting, however, Houston suffers from traffic problems that cost companies a lot of money in lost time, according to a new Brookings Institution report. Here’s a synopsis of a great post today.

Here are the relevant local details, which researchers chose to highlight.

A closer look at the Texas Triangle, one of the country’s most valuable trade corridors, shows just how costly congestion can be for truckers and travelers alike. All of the region’s major highways move heavy truck volumes, including I-35 between San Antonio and Dallas and I-45 between Houston and Dallas. But it’s primarily within the metro areas—especially Dallas and Houston—where traffic comes to a crashing halt. Local congestion slows a steady flow of goods to firms, factories, warehouses, and households in each area.

The recent post builds on some great work Brookings is doing to assess how goods move around the region. For more info, check out this post on their mapping freight analysis, which has some of the best breakdowns of where commodities are going from various metro areas. Here’s just a capture of some of the Houston flow.

The cost of congestion is nothing new, and officials and local business leaders are well aware of the challenges. Knowing there’s a problem, however, doesn’t mean a speedy solution.

“We are still incorporating comments and information, so we are looking at a date in early January for the next (freight advisory committee) meeting,” said Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Veronica Beyer.

Even with a plan, it’ll take years to get some of the major projects ready and under construction that can do the most good.